Ben Shelton reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open with his father in his box, which is where Bryan Shelton has been for his entire professional career. Both of his parents played the game seriously, and the sport runs through both sides of the family across two generations.
Bryan Shelton
| Born | December 22, 1965, Huntsville, Alabama |
|---|---|
| College | Georgia Tech |
| Turned pro | 1989 |
| Career-high singles | No. 55 |
| Career-high doubles | No. 52 |
| ATP titles | Two, both at Newport |
| Career prize money | $1,220,283 |
| Retired | After the 1997 US Open |
The Coaching Record
What Bryan did after retiring is the more unusual part. He took over the Georgia Tech women’s program and won the NCAA team championship in 2007. He moved to the University of Florida men’s program in 2012 and won the national title there in 2021, the first in that program’s history, with Ben on the roster as a freshman.
That made him the first person in NCAA history to win team titles as head coach of both a women’s program and a men’s program.
He stepped down from Florida in June 2023 to coach his son full time. Ben marked it on Instagram: “This isn’t a career that’s defined by championships and accolades, but by the people impacted and lives changed.”
The Father and the Coach
Ben has talked often about how the two roles are kept separate. “Any player-coach relationship has to be delicate, and it has to be even more delicate when it’s also a father-son relationship,” he said. “My dad does a great job knowing when to put on the coach hat, and when to put on the dad hat.”
Asked whether he could beat his father now, Ben laughed: “He probably still thinks he can beat me.”
Lisa Witsken Shelton
Ben’s mother was an accomplished junior player from Indiana and one of eight siblings. Her brother was Todd Witsken, who reached No. 4 in the world in doubles and No. 43 in singles and was a three-time All-American at USC. Witsken died in May 1998 at 34.
Asked which side of the family Ben got it from, Bryan deflected: “He’s got some good blood running through him, that’s for sure.”
The Rest of the Family
Bryan and Lisa married in October 1999. Ben has an older sister, Emma, who played college tennis at Florida.
Ben was born in Atlanta while his father was coaching at Georgia Tech, and grew up in Gainesville after the move to Florida. He played football as a young child and was not pushed toward tennis; he only started playing regularly at 12, coached by his father. He graduated from Buchholz High School.
The Djokovic Incident
After Novak Djokovic beat Shelton in the 2023 US Open semifinals, he copied Ben’s “dialed in” phone celebration and appeared to slam the receiver down. Bryan took issue with it publicly, saying the intent was to mock his son rather than simply imitate him.
Related
US Open final today · His college career · Last American man to win the US Open
The Bottom Line
Bryan Shelton played nine years on tour, won two ATP titles, then became the only coach in NCAA history to win national team titles with both a women’s and a men’s program before leaving Florida to coach his son. Lisa Witsken Shelton was a junior standout from a tennis family whose brother Todd reached No. 4 in the world in doubles.